Because women typically do not make decisions about contraceptive use and family
planning alone -- and because many women often have little if any decision-making power in
the home -- strategies to empower women and educate family members are needed.
Scientists who worked on FHI's Women's Studies Project conclude that involvement of men
is essential in reproductive health programs. Policy-makers should expand male services
and encourage greater use of male contraceptive methods, researchers say.
Health programs should include counseling to help women and men improve communications
skills and conduct education campaigns to inform men about the roles they can play in
family planning. Men should learn about side effects of both male and female methods,
since concern over side effects can discourage men's support of family planning.
Strategies can be shaped to address different groups. For example, campaigns that
emphasize the economic benefits of contraceptive use might appeal to husbands who provide
financial support for families, while information about sexually transmitted diseases and
pregnancy protection might appeal more to single men.
Some programs show how the influence of family members can help:
- In Madagascar and Bangladesh, education programs were held for some men whose wives
received Norplant, the contraceptive implant. Women's continuation rates for Norplant were
higher if husbands also had undergone family planning counseling. Husbands were less
worried about side effects, and most clients and their husbands were satisfied with their
method choice.1
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- In Honduras, CARE International trained agriculture extension agents to provide
reproductive health education at meetings with farmers and helped design a family planning
booklet for rural couples. Volunteers worked with couples to encourage them to discuss
family size and timing of pregnancies. Men were enthusiastic about receiving reproductive
health information, researchers say, and communication with their wives increased.2
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- In Nepal, mothers-in-law attended education sessions on maternal health. More than 160
women, whose daughters-in-law had at least one young child, received information on
prenatal care, danger signs during pregnancy and labor, and postpartum care. Before the
sessions began, only about one out of three could identify any signs of pregnancy
complications. One year later, nearly everyone could name signs.3
Health experts hope programs such as these will change the perception that reproductive
health is primarily a woman's responsibility, while decision-making belongs exclusively to
men. Ideally, family planning use and family size should be decisions made jointly by men
and women.
"What people see from family planning is the women," said Nafissatou
Sidibe-Diop, a women's health advocate from Mali. "If more men were involved as
providers or as satisfied users, maybe that will change the perception that family
planning is only women's business."
-- Barbara Barnett
References
- Amatya R, Akhter H, McMahan J, et al. The effect of husband counseling
on Norplant contraceptive acceptability in Bangladesh. Contraception 1994;50(3):263-73;
Tapsoba P, Miller R, Ralalahariventy LR. Involving husbands to increase the acceptability
of Norplant in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Presentation at the American Public Health
Association meeting, San Francisco, October 24-28, 1993.
- Lundgren R, Valmana D. Strategies to Involve Men in Reproductive
Care: From Farm Management to Family Management. Tegucigalpa: PACO/CARE-Honduras and
Population Council, 1996.
- Thapa M. Safe motherhood initiative: a study on the knowledge and
attitude of mothers-in-law regarding the intra-conceptional care of their daughters-in-law.
Population Dynamics in Nepal and Related Issues of Sustainable Development. Vol. 2.
Ed. Kumar B. Kathmandu: Central Department for Population Studies, 1993.
For more information, visit Family Health International's Website at www.fhi.org
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